HDFC Diners 10X Rewards for International Spends through September 2018

International Shopping

Turns out, HDFC Bank has also extended the International Spends promotion. Through September 2018, HDFC Bank Diners Club is offering their Diners Club card members the opportunity to earn bonus Reward Points. They are offering 10X rewards on International Spends between September 1, 2017, through June 2018. The following rewards can be earned under this promotion per billing cycle:

Value of the International Spends Promotion

HDFC Bank Diners Rewardz: You earn 3 Reward Points/ INR 150 spent, which value at INR 0.90. With this promotion, you get another 27 Reward Points/INR 150 spent, so you get a total value of INR 9/INR 150 spent, which makes it 6% cashback in total.

HDFC Bank Diners Premium / Club Miles: You earn 4 Reward Points/ INR 150 spent, which value at INR 2. With this promotion, you would get another 36 Reward Points/INR 150 spent, so you get a total value of INR 20/INR 150 spent, which makes it a 13% cashback in total.

HDFC Bank Diners Black: You earn 5 Reward Points/ INR 150 spent, which value at INR 5. With this promotion, you would get another 45 Reward Points/INR 150 spent, so you get a total value of INR 50/INR 150 spent, which makes it a 33% cashback in total.

Capping

Given there is a cap on the points, it makes sense to use your cards per billing cycle for the following amounts on international spends:

Diners Rewardz: INR 11110 per cycle

Diners Premium / Club Miles: INR 20830 per cycle

Diners Black: INR 33330 per cycle.

Again, these are promotions for points earning cards and not valid for miles earning cards such as those with JetPrivilege. You need to make transactions over INR 150 to be eligible for the points in the first place.

Revisiting HDFC Global Value: 1% Cashback

HDFC Bank has also added the Diners Club Cards to their Global Value program. You pay INR 199 towards your welcome or renewal benefit from this promotion. In return, you get 500 Reward Points on activation by doing the first international transaction. Subsequently, you get 1% cashback up to INR 1000 per billing cycle. If you spend more than INR 150,000 per annum, you get an additional INR 2000 Yatra Voucher. You need to call HDFC Bank to enrol in this program and you get it activated within 5 working days.

HDFC Bank Global Value

Why does this make sense? Well, you pay 2% markup fees +GST on your cards and with this, you get back much more (1% cashback, 10X points and more).

Bottomline

I’m glad that HDFC Bank continues to keep their top tier customers happy at least. So, if you are on an international trip, or spend abroad buying off Amazon, here is the place to direct some of your spends on. What are your thoughts on the promotion?

The HDFC 10x page says that the points cap for Smartbuy and International spends is “per month” whereas the cap for partner brands is “per statement cycle”. Would it be correct to assume that Smartbuy and International spends should be maxed out per calendar month?